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Woman Arrested in 1992 Shooting Death of Quiana Dees

FREEHOLD – A woman who formerly resided in Asbury Park has been charged in the 1992 fatal shooting of a 12-year old girl. The woman, now 40 and living in Henderson, North Carolina, has been charged with Aggravated Manslaughter for the killing of Quiana Dees, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

In the early morning hours of May 2, 1992, Quiana Dees was discovered unconscious and clinging to life in a vacant wooded lot on Washington Avenue in Neptune Township. The 7th grade girl had left her Asbury Park apartment the previous evening. She was found suffering from a head wound later determined to be caused by a gunshot, and was ultimately pronounced dead on May 3, 1992. The case has continued to be the subject of investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and local law enforcement agencies since her death occurred more than 26 years ago.

As a result of a joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Cold Case Unit, and members of the Asbury Park, Neptune Township and Henderson, North Carolina Police Departments, the homicide complaint was issued against the former Asbury Park resident. She remains detained in North Carolina, pending her extradition back to New Jersey to face this charge.

Because the defendant was 13 years of age at the time of the 1992 killing, and not an adult at the time for purposes of criminal prosecution, the charge has been issued as a juvenile delinquency complaint. She faces a maximum term of incarceration of 4 years. All future proceedings in the matter will be held in Monmouth County Family Court, Juvenile Division. The juvenile statutes in effect at the time of the crime preclude the possibility of waiver of this case to adult criminal court.

Due to the requirements of confidentiality in all juvenile proceedings, the defendant’s name and other details regarding the case are prohibited from disclosure and cannot be released.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to call Detective John Leibfried of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-800-533-7443 or Detective Eric Chunn of the Neptune Township Police Department at 732-988-8000.

The case is assigned to Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle, Director of the Cold Case and Fatal Motor Vehicle Unit.

This has been the 7th previously unsolved homicide which has resulted in an arrest or otherwise solved in the past three years since Prosecutor Gramiccioni made cold case homicide reviews an office priority.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.